Seiko Higuma

A mother, enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her three-year old daughter 15 years ago, has cut herself off from her ex-husband and son. However, when a troubled young woman with a checkered past enters her life, old psychic wounds painfully resurface, as does the illogical and increasingly irrational hope that the young woman may be the daughter she lost so long ago.

Over the course of a single day, four different men visit a massage parlor looking for some kind of emotional or physical connection. Simultaneously, the film explores the complex emotional experiences of the women who work there.

The Winter Butterfly is a story about passion and love, depicting Matsunaga a samurai, as a corrupt oppressor rather than a hero. With the emergence of a new system during the Meiji period, many things changed in Japan for the sake of progress. The story told in four parts is related to the seasons of the year, which can be scorching, amenable, cold or unpredictable. All evoked by Stephen Warbeck's beautiful and sensitive score.

In the wake of the dot-com crash, investment banker Hanna Shah ricochets from job loss to career limbo to new love with prosperous lawyer Jiwon Kim. Stability seems in reach -- until old flame Alex Yuen reenters Hanna's life as Jiwon's client. Alex is now a changed man, and as past converges with present, all three must contend with the altering landscape in this culture-hopping romance tale.